In this blog, we share “Smart Travel Hacks for Working Moms: Part 1 of The Billable Mom’s Ultimate Family Travel Guide.” This post highlights travel strategies from attorney and podcast host Cari B. Rincker, Esq., founder of Rincker Law, PLLC, and host of The Billable Mom. Drawing on her personal experiences traveling with two small children, Cari shares organizational tools, mom hacks, and sanity-saving systems for making travel smoother and more enjoyable.
Whether you’re planning a vacation to a place like Great Wolf Lodge or gearing up for a spring break trip, these tips help working moms reduce stress, avoid common pitfalls, and actually enjoy the travel experience.
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Map Out the Year in Advance
Cari emphasizes the importance of long-term planning for busy professionals. She recommends blocking off potential travel weeks months ahead of time using a framed 12-month dry-erase calendar and dry-erase markers. This method allows working moms to see their entire year at a glance and align family trips with school breaks, client deadlines, and personal goals.
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Use a Travel Advisor for Big Trips
In The Billable Mom Podcast, Episode 4, Cari interviews Laura Freeman, travel advisor and CEO of The Trip Trotter. Laura explains how working with a travel advisor helps tailor vacations to specific needs and remove decision fatigue.
Travel advisors can handle hotel bookings, flight logistics, and activity planning, freeing up your time and ensuring you get the most from your trip. Cari strongly encourages lawyer moms to use advisors, especially when planning more involved family vacations.
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Master the 43-Folder System
To stay organized, Cari uses a 43-folder system that includes one folder for each month and one for each day of the month. Travel reservations, confirmation emails, and packing checklists are all printed and color-coded. Each trip gets its own dedicated folder, stored in the correct month, making it easy to keep documents accessible and organized.
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Reduce Overpacking with Packing Cubes
Rather than packing by clothing category, Cari organizes each child’s outfits by day using packing cubes. Each cube contains one full day’s outfit, pajamas, and an extra change of clothes. This method simplifies mornings during travel and avoids overpacking.
She uses small, medium, and large packing cubes for flexibility across short and long trips.
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Create a Calm Start with a Travel Cooler Picnic
Before entering the airport or checking into a hotel, Cari recommends having a short family picnic in the parking lot using a travel cooler packed with sandwiches, fruits, and healthy snacks. It gives everyone a moment to relax and recalibrate before going through security and avoids the expense and chaos of airport food options.
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Apply for TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry as a Family
Cari highly recommends getting TSA Pre-Check and Global Entry for all traveling family members. She even built the Global Entry appointment into a trip to New York City, turning it into a memorable family experience. These programs significantly reduce wait times and airport stress, especially when traveling with small children.
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Choose Luggage That Works for the Whole Family
Cari is a loyal fan of BÉIS luggage, especially the large rolling suitcases and carry-on bags. She also recommends mini rolling suitcases for children, ideally personalized with their names to make them feel included and responsible. She also attaches AirTags to each suitcase to track their location in real time and reduce anxiety about lost bags.
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Ship Bulky Items Ahead
To avoid overpacking and carrying heavy gear through the airport, Cari ships certain items directly to her hotel in advance. Some of her most-used shipped items include:
- Toddler bed rails
- Floaties and pool gear
- Swim bags
- Swim diapers
- Snacks and lunch food boxes
- Diapers and wipes (for younger children)
Always call the hotel first to ensure they accept deliveries.
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Use the Great Wolf Lodge App (and Similar Apps)
When visiting resorts like Great Wolf Lodge, Cari recommends downloading the resort app in advance. These apps often include mobile ordering, daily activity schedules, and park maps to help you maximize your time and reduce confusion.
- Bring Tools for In-Room Entertainment and Wind-Down Time
Cari brings a Toniebox with Tonies figurines as a screen-free way to entertain her children in the hotel room. Other favorites include:
- Sticker activity books
- Melissa & Doug toys
- Invisible ink books
- Coloring books and crayons
- Mini notebooks
- iPad accessories (like cute tablet cases and headphones for kids)
These items help during quiet time, meals, or bedtime routines on the road.
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Avoid Temptation Traps by Planning Ahead
At family resorts or amusement parks, temptation abounds to gift shops, bubble machines, glow wands, and arcade tokens. Cari recommends bringing your own bubble wands, light-up toys, and small surprises to manage expectations and avoid overspending. She also sets clear behavior-based incentives for treats.
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Dress in Layers and Bring Cozy Extras
Cari always packs travel blankets and dresses her kids in layers to cope with fluctuating temperatures in airports and on airplanes. While she’s hesitant about neck pillows for kids, she considers blankets essential. Blankets also help encourage napping and comfort during long travel days.
Planning Ahead Makes Travel Possible (and Enjoyable)
Traveling with young kids while running a business is no easy feat, but with the right planning systems and tools, it can become a smooth and even joyful experience. Cari reminds us that the key is in intentional preparation, whether it’s reserving travel time on the calendar, outsourcing the booking process to a professional, or using smart packing strategies that keep chaos to a minimum.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we dive into Cari’s in-flight hacks, food systems, and the parenting products she can’t travel without.
To hear more travel insights, listen to Episode 4 of The Billable Mom podcast with Cari Rincker and guest travel advisor Laura Freeman.
Listen to Episode 4:
Balancing Motherhood and a Career with The Trip Trotter, Laura Freeman
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